History Fanfic / StartAgain

** Downplayed example in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'', where Haru blackmails Akechi into taking her into the Metaverse to get the Nav and stop him from killing Wakaba by threatening to reveal that he's Shido's bastard son. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that at the time Haru approached Akechi, he was planning to approach Shido and demonstrate his powers, only to deem it too risky thanks to Haru knowing his secret. This means Haru prevented the Conspiracy from gaining their most dangerous asset and preventing the mental shutdowns and politically-motivated breakdowns from her timeline]].

* DramaticIrony: The later installments are full of this, as each new Thief wonders if anyone else remembers. As well, each of the non-Haru-group Phantom Thieves that remember the future initially think that Akechi is still working for the conspiracy, [[spoiler:unaware that he never joined thanks to Haru's actions in ''The Count of Monte Cristo''. This is cleared up when the Thieves actually meet up]].

* TheGhost: Morgana is believed to have remembered the future since before January 2014, since he's the only plausible one to have written the note that warned Futaba about Wakaba's potential murder. However, he has yet to appear in the series so far.

* ReformedButNotTamed: While Haru was able to get Akechi on their side, [[spoiler:stopping him from joining the Conspiracy and becoming an assassin]], he still finds rage fugues the best solution to most of his problems. He also despises Shido just as much as ever, but given how much of an asshat Shido nobody can blame him.
* SayingTooMuch: At Kosei's cultural festival, Yusuke meets Hifumi and recognizes her as a future classmate and confidant of Akira's. He then spots Ann past her and ends up distractedly mentioning Hifumi's mother's rigging games and idol aspirations before leaving, which Hifumi wouldn't have learned about until a year later.
** Yusuke gets hit with this a lot, actually.

-->GA: Well\\

-->'''Futaba:''' "Yeah, and I bet ''you're'' just ''overflowing'' with honesty—"\\
'''Akira:''' "[[spoiler: Well, no, but [[SharedDream I never remember a thing about the future after I wake up]]. Even the dreams are just bits and pieces.]]"

* AdaptationalIntelligence: Ryuji displays this in his story. He is still somewhat brash in nature (and fully aware of it), but when he discovers that he is thrust back into the past in November (before starting Shujin) without the other members of the Phantom Thieves to support or even contact, he starts thinking and planning things out more carefully, and also tries to be as discrete as possible so that he can try and save Shiho and Ann from Kamoshida while minimizing negative attention to himself. Futaba is shocked that Ryuji has known since November and managed to avoid telling anyone else.

* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: Haru, big time. In the original game, she suffered from LateCharacterSyndrome. Here, she is the first character whose perspective we see, and she immediately makes a huge impact by [[spoiler:blackmailing Akechi, which has the unintended but major effect of preventing him from joining Shido's conspiracy and convincing him to genuinely work with the Phantom Thieves isntead.]]

* ReformedButNotTamed: While Haru was able to get Akechi on their side, [[spoiler:stopping him from joining the Conspiracy and becoming an assassin]], he still finds rage fugues the best solution to most of his problems. He also despises Shido just as much as ever, but given how much of an asshat Shido is that's not much of a surprise.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Actually averted with [[spoiler:Akechi]] and the members of the original Phantom Thieves (Haru, Makoto, Futaba) who remember the old timeline. While there is some occasional abrasiveness, they are mostly able to cooperate and coordinate with each other without problems. Futaba outright states that she doesn't hold Future Evil Akechi's actions against the new timeline Goro, and Goro himself regards "Future Evil Akechi" [[FutureMeScaresMe with contempt and considers him a psycho]].

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Actually averted with [[spoiler:Akechi]] and the members of the original Phantom Thieves (Haru, Makoto, Futaba) who remember the old timeline. While there is some occasional abrasiveness, they are mostly able to cooperate and coordinate with each other without problems. Futaba outright states that she doesn't hold Future Evil Akechi's actions against the new timeline Goro, and Goro himself regards "Future Evil Akechi" with contempt and considers him a psycho.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Thanks to Haru [[spoiler:recruiting Akechi and stopping him from joining Shido's conspiracy]], she is able to work alongside Makoto [[spoiler:and Akechi]] to change Kunikazu Okumura's heart much earlier than in the original timeline, causing Shido's conspiracy to lose interest in him. This, combined with the fact that [[spoiler:Akechi hasn't joined Shido and become the Black Mask]], ensures that Kunikazu stays alive and has his morality restored.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Actually averted with [[spoiler:Akechi]] and the members of the original Phantom Thieves (Haru, Makoto, Futaba) who remember the old timeline. While there is some occasional abrasiveness, they are mostly able to cooperate and coordinate with each other without problems. [Futaba outright states that she doesn't hold Future Evil Akechi's actions against the new timeline Goro, and Goro himself regards "Future Evil Akechi" with contempt and considers him a psycho.

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Actually averted with [[spoiler:Akechi]] and the members of the original Phantom Thieves (Haru, Makoto, Futaba) who remember the old timeline. While there is some occasional abrasiveness, they are mostly able to cooperate and coordinate with each other without problems. Futaba outright states that she doesn't hold Future Evil Akechi's actions against the new timeline Goro, and Goro himself regards "Future Evil Akechi" with contempt and considers him a psycho.

* AdaptationalIntelligence: Ryuji displays this in his story. He is still somewhat brash in nature (and fully aware of it), but when he discovers that he is thrust back into the past in November (before starting Shujin) without the other members of the Phantom Thieves to support or even contact, he starts thinking and planning things out more carefully, and also tries to be as discrete as possible so that he can try and save Shiho and Ann from Kamoshida's attentions while minimizing negative attention to himself. Futaba is shocked that Ryuji has known since November and managed to avoid telling anyone else.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: Wakaba doesn't die thanks to [[spoiler:the Conspiracy lacking Akechi]] and the bug Futaba placed on her mother's phone letting her hear their goon poisoning her. [[spoiler:Wakaba ends up in a coma between a mix of the drugs and her Shadow locking her up in her Palace, though Futaba and her team are able to save her. She even gets her own Persona out of it]].

** Several cases present in canon carry over, including the Magarios and Kunikazu Okumura. Both of these examples are targets for changes of heart by the new Phantom Thieves, [[spoiler:with Haru in particular working with Makoto and Akechi to not only make Kunikazu Okumura a better person much earlier, but also to stop him from joining the Conspiracy and get wrapped up with Shido. ]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:Goro Akechi, thanks to Haru's attempts to blackmail him, decides not to reveal his powers to Shido and instead starts working with Haru and Makoto. He's still very much an AntiHero and a clear-cut example of ReformedButNotTamed, but he's still a much better person than he was in the original timeline.]]

* ReformedButNotTamed: While Haru was able to get Akechi on their side, [[spoiler:stopping him from joining the Conspiracy and becoming an assassin]], he still finds rage fugues the best solution to most of his problems.

** Several cases present in canon carry over, including the Magarios and Kunikazu Okumura.

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[spoiler:Goro Akechi, thanks to Haru's attempts to blackmail him, decides not to reveal his powers and instead starts working with Haru and Makoto. He's still very much an AntiHero and a clear-cut example of ReformedButNotTamed, but he's still a much better person than he was in the original timeline.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: [[Goro Akechi, thanks to Haru's attempts to blackmail him, decides not to reveal his powers and instead starts working with Haru and Makoto. He's still very much an AntiHero and a clear-cut example of ReformedButNotTamed, but he's still a much better person than he was in the original timeline.]]

--> ''prometheus_unbound changed Fox's name to SelfPortraitAsAnInformationLeak''\\

* SharedDream: It slowly becomes clear that [[spoiler: several members of the time-displaced Thieves ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Akechi]]) have been sharing dreams with Joker, who currently only remembers the future when he's asleep.]]

* StartMyOwn: A benevolent example, as the scattered Phantom Thieves are unsure if their teammates currently remember the future and thus have to start their own team to deal with a current crisis. Haru, Futaba and Yusuke, and Ryuji and Ann each start their own groups before coming together.
* TalkingInYourDreams: The Phantom Thieves that remember the original timeline will often speak to Akira while dreaming.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: In-Universe and Inverted. In the old timeline, Yusuke only got a smartphone thanks to his art senpai Hitoshi buying him one as a gift for getting into Kosei. In ''Escher'', which takes place while he is in middle school, Yusuke still has a flip phone that cannot hold apps. After falling into the Metaverse through his self-portrait, he is able to enter it again by speed dialing on his phone, where it'll take him to Madarame's palace if he's at the Atelier or Mementos elsewhere.

* UnwittingTestSubject: [[spoiler:The Conspiracy has been drugging high school students and sending them into the Mementos. Of course, one of their potential subjects ended up being Ryuji]].

* WhamLine: From the final chapter of ''Escher'', when Futaba is having a dream of Joker:

'''Joker:''' "[[spoiler: Well, no, but [[SharedDream I never remember a thing about the future after I wake up]]. Even the dreams are just bits and pieces.]]"

** Futaba is warned about the threat towards her mother thanks to a warning note from Morgana and set up bugs in her phone just in case. [[spoiler:Without Goro]], the Conspiracy tries to kill Wakaba and frame it as an overdose, only for Futaba to overhear the confrontation and tell Sojiro, who rushes to Wakaba and gets her into the hospital in time. [[spoiler:This ultimately results in Wakaba surviving, and joining the Thieves as Archive.]]
** [[spoiler:Without either Goro's powers or Wakaba's pscience research, the Conspiracy attempts to learn to use the Mementos by tossing teenagers into the other world, with Shujin Academy as one of their sources. This directly leads to Shiho and Mishima gaining their own Personas, and the complicit principal undergoing a change of heart]].
** The Thieves setting Sae on the path to investigate any corruption in her workplace leads to [[spoiler:Makoto being attacked by Kaneshiro.]]
** Hifumi actually standing up to her mother (repeatedly) leads to the woman going from a Mementos denizen to a Palace owner.
* FrameUp: The Conspiracy tries to make Wakaba's death to be from an overdose of drugs taken from the stress of both her research and raising Futaba.

* InsistentTerminology: Goro prefers "Rage fugue" over psychotic breakdowns to describe Loki's ability against shadows. Makoto admits that it's more fitting because that psychotic is a clinical term and doesn't match up with Goro's powers.
* NecessaryFail: As much as Haru loathes the idea, she has to let Kamoshida's Palace remain standing, since it's the earliest known location where Akira and Ryuji meet Morgana, and it might be the only place where Ryuji and Ann can awaken their Personas. All she can do is set up a few rumors about Kamoshida's true disgusting nature.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:The Conspiracy trying to use Ryuji and Yuuki as guinea pigs for their Mementos experiment not only restores Ann's (who along with Shiho tagged along to the boys' "internship" interview) memories of the future but also lead to Shiho and Yuuki awakening their Personas]].

* ProperlyParanoid: After finding a warning letter to her mother that her continued research will lead to her death, Futaba places bugs on Wakaba's phone to keep an eye on her. It came in handy when the conspiracy sent their men to try and kill Wakaba with an overdose, which Futaba overhears and calls Sojiro to rescue her, allowing Wakaba to be brought to a hospital and saving her life, although Wakaba does end up in a coma.
* ReformedButNotTamed: While Haru was able to get Akechi on their side, stopping his path of killing criminals [[spoiler:and joining the Conspiracy]], he still finds causing mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdown the best solution.
* SayingTooMuch: At Kosei High culture festival, Yusuke meets Hifumi and recognizes her as his future classmate. He then spots Ann past her and ends up saying how Hifumi's mother was rigging her games and wanted to make her an idol while leaving, which Hifumi wouldn't have learned until a year later.

** Sojiro knows about the Metaverse and about Futaba [[spoiler:and Wakaba's]] exploits in the Metaverse, though he isn't happy about it.

* SharedDream: It slowly becomes clear that [[spoiler: several members of the time-displaced Thieves (and [[WildCard Akechi]]) have been sharing dreams with Joker, who currently only remembers the future when he's asleep.]]
* SparedByAdaptation: Wakaba doesn't die thanks to [[spoiler:the Conspiracy lacking Akechi]] and the bugs Futaba placed on her mother's phone letting her hear their men trying to overdose her. [[spoiler:Wakaba ends up in a coma between a mix of the drugs and her Shadow locking her up in her Palace, though Futaba and her team were able to save her. She even gets her own Persona out of it]].

The fight against the Holy Grail ended with the Phantom Thieve's defeat, and all of them fading away. They then awake before becoming the Phantom Thieves, and have a chance SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.

''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/914673 Start Again]]'' is a ''VideoGame/Persona5'' PeggySue SeriesFic by [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scedasticity/pseuds/Scedasticity Scedasticity]], having each of the Phantom Thieves trying to fix the future on their own without any way of knowing if all of their comrades remember or not. This leads to several cases of ForWantOfANail that sends the setting on their head. It will, of course, contain spoilers for the main game.

Currently have six entries, along with a timeline for clarification:

* AbusiveParent:
** As in canon, Kana's parents.
** Hifumi's mother is willing to do anything to make Hifumi famous. When Hifumi tries to protest this, her mother slaps her, causing Hifumi to run away from home
* AchievementInIgnorance
** Downplayed example in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'', where Haru blackmails Akechi into taking her into the Metaverse (or at least the palace in his high school) and stop him from killing Wakaba by threatening to reveal that he's Shido's bastard son. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that at the time Haru approached Akechi, he was planning to approach Shido and demonstrate his powers, only to deem it too risky thanks to Haru's knowing his secret. This means Haru prevented the Conspiracy from gaining their most dangerous asset and preventing so many mental shutdowns and breakdowns that were prevalent in her timeline]].
** Yusuke, to deal with the stress of being the only Phantom Thief that remembers the future and being stuck under Madarame's thumb, paints a self-portrait of himself as a cognition. When Hifumi confronts him about his statement of her mother rigging her shogi games, he ends up backing into his painting and his arms go ''into'' his painting. Hifumi's attempt to pull him out ends up causing the portrait to fall onto both of them and send them into the Metaverse.
* AgentsDating: In ''medjed: can hack ur brain'', Wakaba and Sojiro go on a fake date to put the Conspiracy off track on them. Futaba asks her teammate how she's supposed to react to help sell the act.
* ArrangedMarriage: When he sees Haru is making unauthorized trips, her father tries to reign her in by having him engaged to a vice-president in his company, who is only marrying her to improve his standing. Goro is able to end the engagement by confronting the man's shadow and making him admit the guilt from marrying a girl younger than his niece just for his career.

* BigDamnHero:

* DramaticIrony: The Phantom Thieves that remember the future initially think that Akechi is still working for the conspiracy, [[spoiler:unaware that he never joined the Conspiracy thanks to Haru's actions in ''The Count of Monte Cristo''. This is cleared up when the Thieves actually meet up]].
* DungeonBypass: The door from the first Path of Mementos to the second Path is blocked, as Haru's group doesn't have public notoriety yet. Akechi has been able to to get to the second Path regardless by running on the railway tracks... [[FlatWhat much to Makoto and Haru's shock]].
* TheGhost: Morgana is believed to have remembered the future since before January 2014, since it's clear he wrote the note that warned Futaba about Wakaba's potential murder. However, he has yet to appear in the series so far.

* DramaticIrony: The Phantom Thieves that remember the future initially think that Akechi is still working for the conspiracy, [[spoiler:unaware that he never joined the Conspiracy thanks to Haru's actions in ''The Count of Monte Cristo'']].

* ForWantOfANail: Or more accurately, for want of many nails
** Haru uses Goro to acquire the [=MetaNav=] app and convinces him to work with her and Makoto in exchange for information. Not only does she steal her father's heart when his twisted desires were starting, [[spoiler:but she also stops Goro from joining the Conspiracy]].
** Futaba is warned about the threat towards her mother thanks to a warning note from Morgana and set up bugs in her phone just in case. [[spoiler:Without Goro]], the Conspiracy tries to kill Wakaba and frame it as an overdose, only for Futaba to overhear the confrontation and tell Sojiro, who rushes to Wakaba and gets her into the hospital in time.
** [[spoiler:Without either Goro's powers or Wakaba's pscience research, the Conspiracy attempts to learn to use the Mementos by tossing teenagers into the other world, with Shujin Academy as one of their sources]].

* SparedByAdaptation: Wakaba doesn't die thanks to [[spoiler:the Conspiracy lacking Akechi]] and the bugs Futaba placed on her mother's phone letting her hear their men trying to overdose her. [[spoiler:Wakaba ends up in a coma between a mix of the drugs and her shadow locking her up in her Palace, though Futaba and her team were able to save her]].

** [[spoiler:The end of ''Valor and Discretion'' has the combined forces of Haru's and Futaba's team arriving to help Ryuji's group against Principal Kobayakawa's shadow]].

* TalkingInYourDreams: The Pahntom Thieves that remember the original timeline will often speak to Akira while dreaming.

** Hifumi's mother is willing to do anything to make Hifumi famous. When Hifumi tries to protest this, she slaps her, causing Hifumi to run away from home

** Yusuke, to deal with the stress of being the only Phantom Thief that remembers the future and being stuck in the Metaverse, paints a self-portrait of himself as a cognition. When Hifumi confronts him about his statement of her mother rigging her shogi games, he ends up backing into his painting and his arms go ''into'' his painting. Hifumi's attempt to pull him out ends up causing the portrait to fall onto both of them and send them into the Metaverse.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: In-Universe and Inverted. In the old timeline, Yusuke only got a smartphone thanks to his art senpai Hitoshi buying him one as a gift for getting him. In ''Escher'', Yusuke still has a flip phone that cannot hold apps. After falling into the Metaverse through his self-portrait, he is able to enter it again by speed dialing on his phone, where it'll take him to Madarame's palace if he's at the Atelier or Mementos elsewhere.